Tennis: Tiriac claims Seles will make return in Germany

(First Edition)

MONICA SELES, who has not played since being stabbed in the back at a tournament in Hamburg on 30 April, may make a return to the game in October, and in Germany, according to the promoter, Ion Tiriac.

Seles has been recovering from injuries following the incident involving a fanatical supporter of Steffi Graf, who has since taken over the Yugoslav's No 1 world ranking.

According to a report from Frankfurt, Tiriac says Seles will play at a tournament he is running in Essen, which begins on 25 October. However, he did not say whether Seles planned any comeback tournaments elsewhere before that date.

Yesterday Tiriac, who has been the manager and mentor of Boris Becker for the last 10 years parted company from the three-times Wimbledon champion. Becker, in a statement issued from his parents' home in the German town of Leimen, thanked Tiriac for his work but did not give a reason for the end of their professional relationship. In May, Becker parted from his Austrian trainer, Gunther Bresnik, only a week before the start of the French Open.

Sergi Bruguera, the French Open champion, could face a fine after his poor performance against his compatriot, Alberto Berasategui, in the Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart yesterday. In the third set of a 4-6, 6-4, 6-1 defeat, the world No 5 and top seed appeared to give up while trailing 2-1. Bruguera shocked the 5,200 spectators by giving away the remaining games, often without appearing to attempt to keep the ball in play.

'I was really tired, simply tired and couldn't play any better,' Bruguera said. However the ATP supervisor, Ed Hardisty, said Bruguera's lack of effort would be investigated. The Spaniard could be fined or suspended as a result.